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Trump Blasts Harley-Davidson for Moving Some Production Overseas

President Donald Trump raises the specters of punitive taxes and financial ruin for Harley-Davidson Inc. after the motorcycle maker announced plans to supply the European market from factories overseas.
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President Donald Trump raises the specters of punitive taxes and financial ruin for Harley-Davidson Inc. after the motorcycle maker announced plans to supply the European market from factories overseas.

In a blistering attack via Twitter, Trump predicts Harley-Davidson will “be taxed like never before” if it attempts to import bikes to the U.S. from factories outside the country. He also declares the company will eventually collapse for failing to make 100% of its motorcycles in the U.S.

Trump claims the Milwaukee-based company using the developing trade war he began last month with the European Union over aluminum and steel to justify its plan to shift some U.S. production elsewhere. The EU has responded to the metal tariffs with selective retaliatory taxes, including a 31% levy on Harley bikes from the U.S.

Harley-Davidson is opening a factory later this year in Thailand to mitigate import tariffs already in place in Asia. The company—which also assembles bikes in Australia, Brazil and India—says it will take at least six months to relocate sourcing operations for the European region.

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